International rankings of USA Colleges

Academics in universities across the country have been accused by their peers of turning a blind eye to the practice to ensure their institutions climb national and international rankings. One student told Varsity: “Sometimes, when I am really fed up, I Google the essay title, copy and throw everything on to a blank word document and jiggle the order a bit. They usually end up being the best essays.” Law students were most prone to plagiarism with 62 per cent of those questioned admitting to breaking university rules. Robert Foley, a professor in biological anthropology at King’s College Cambridge, said: “It is a depressing set of statistics.” A university spokesman told Varsity that it regarded plagiarism as a “serious and potentially disciplinary offence which can lead to failure to obtain, or withdrawal of a degree”. He said the university was planning to introduce detection software to crack down on the problem.